Cheltenham North 22 - 19 Southam

Southam started well with with 3 points for a penalty by captain Will Grindal for closing off, followed by another just in front of the posts for deliberate wheel and soon after, wing forward Justinias Urbonas was unlucky to not get over in the corner, but then the nerves began to build and successive mistakes let Cheltenham back into the game with a penalty and a yellow card for 2nd row Dave Harris for holding on. Grindal slotted another penalty for offside, but Southam could not string any phases together and Cheltenham replied with another penalty for closing off.
HT 6 - 9

The second half started better and a long hack on by scrum half Lewis Dodds was chased by young wing forward Finn Toner and he snatched the bobbling ball from out of the defenders grasp to run on 20m for the try converted by Grindal. Southam continued to make mistakes, with missed passes and kicks and Cheltenham took advantage with a converted try under the posts, Southam got back down into the CN 22 and No8 Flo Neale was only stopped in the corner by some determined CN tackling and Southam had to settle for another Grindal penalty. In the closing minutes another mistake at the base of the scrum base, allowed CN to hammer the Southam line and after 2 penalties and a yellow card for Urbonas, CN sneaked in for the try to take the score to 20-19 and and converted it on the whistle.

This tight loss has made next weeks final game, against league leaders Evesham, a tad more difficult. With Evesham on 86 points after getting the full 5 points on Saturday (Shipston did not turn up) and Southam on 82, this means that Southam have to win and win by more than 7 points to be assured promotion. This fixture has looked crucial since January and so it has played out to be, 1 game and eighty minutes to decide Southam's season. No pressure then!